Focusing On Group Support

Program Helps Children With Asperger's Disorder

October 01, 2001|By STEPHANIE REITZ; Courant Staff Writer

CANTON — When Jeffrey started school, he was ``bewildered by the world,'' his mother recalls.

Other children noticed the towheaded boy's confusion and reticence, teasing and baiting him. Then, because they were more socially adept and persuasive, they usually convinced adults that Jeffrey's retaliation was unprovoked.

School became such a torment that by the time he was 7, Jeffrey told his parents that he wanted to kill himself.

``He's a very smart child, but he doesn't have a natural affinity for socializing the way other kids do, so it can be a lonely world for him,'' said his mother, whose name is being withheld to protect her son's identity.

Now 11, Jeffrey is among a growing number of children diagnosed with Asperger's disorder, in which they are highly intelligent but socially isolated.

The disorder is related to autism, but Asperger's children are often misdiagnosed with attention-deficit disorder because they have trouble controlling their impulses.

Over the past few years, several school districts from throughout the region have turned to a new resource to help their Asperger's children: the FOCUS Alternative Learning Center Inc. in Canton.

The center, which gained nonprofit status last year, had offered limited activities since starting in 1992 as a small summer camp. It grew over the years, purchasing a building on Dowd Avenue in Canton in 1998. The center opened its doors there full-time in September 2000.

Jeffrey's hometown school district has been sending him to afternoon programs there for three years, where nontraditional teaching approaches are used to help the children learn to follow directions, study and socialize.

``Asperger's kids get mistreated -- not on purpose, but because they're smart and people assume they have more control over their behavior,'' said FOCUS Executive Director Donna Swanson.

Because they're not social by nature, children with Asperger's disorder have trouble reaching out, making eye contact and reading body language.

When they do reach out, their occasionally awkward attempts are often met by ridicule. It becomes a cycle: Because their only social contacts become such negative experiences, they withdraw even further.

The disorder is believed to be biological and is more common in boys than in girls. Many children diagnosed with Asperger's are treated with prescriptions to ease anxieties, preoccupied behavior and irritability.

Swanson, a registered nurse certified in psychiatric nursing for adolescents and children, said she considers the Asperger's students ``creatively wired and chemically challenged.''

A few of the children at FOCUS have problems other than Asperger's, but most of them have been diagnosed with that disorder.

``If you can't fit into the world socially and emotionally, it doesn't matter how intelligent you are,'' Swanson said.

Swanson and Associate Director Jackie Alexander run the programs at FOCUS, along with certified teacher Sue MacPherson, three other full-time employees and several part-time employees. Students who have been in the program for a few years can also work their way up to becoming ``counselors in training.''

The foundation of the FOCUS Alternative Learning Center's treatment is ``Milieu Therapy,'' in which everyday events are used to teach lessons.

For instance, teamwork and appreciating nature become lessons as the children play a game of ``Survivor'' on a sandbar in the creek behind Swanson's farm in North Granby during the summer program.

Art and language become important as the children create panels for a quilt, describing their personalities with pictures and words on their panels.

They also have regular academic classes, using material provided by the school systems sending the children. Some students attend only for a few afternoons each week, while for others, it's their full-time school.

Participants can range from ages 6 to 21, although the older children are mostly high school age.

Another foundation of the program is its intentionally broad set of rules: Stay safe, follow directions, have a good attitude, show respect, take responsibility and have fun.

``When you try to do traditional and structured behavior modification with them, it can create more anxiety,'' Swanson said.

About 15 to 20 children participate in FOCUS programs, and it is licensed by the state to have up to 25 children at the former house that serves as the headquarters.

The building has been slightly renovated to turn some areas into classroom space, but it largely retains its homey feel, with magnets on the refrigerator and the rooms painted in bright colors selected by the students.

Roger Frant, a consultant for the state's Bureau of Special Education and Pupil Services in the state Department of Education, visited FOCUS last May for a tour of the program.